student life

Hootenanny 2009

Being  able to be a big part of this year's Hootenanny was one of the best experiences of my college career.  A lot of work was put into making this show happen.  It all started with the preparation for emcee auditions.  My sister and I spent several weeks coming up with the theme and skit ideas that would win us the spot, but that was only the beginning.  Once we found out we were going to be the emcees, the real work began.  We spent the next couple of months writing more skits, recruiting talent, and learning our lines.  It was definitely a lot more work than I anticipated.  

    

All of that work and stress, all of the late nights and long rehearsals, turned out to be well worth it the night of the show.  Every single bit of nervousness I had went completely out the window once the music began and the show started.  After that point, I just enjoyed the show and how awesome it was.  I was also really special to get to share the stage with my younger sister.  I think that she was definitely the star of the show!  

 It's always difficult to know how an audience is going to react to your material.  Are they going to think it's funny, or will they think it's just dumb?  Since we had rehearsed the same skits over and over again, they didn't seem as funny to us anymore.  But fortunately for us, the crowd seem to think that our skits were pretty humorous!  My favorite had to be our Dating Tips skit.  It was one that I wrote that picked at some LeTourneau dating stereotypes and basically everything a guy shouldn't do!  I think it definitely got the most laughs.  So overall, I think that this Hootenanny was the best one ever, but then again, I guess I am a little biased!  :)

-Ben Luckert
Accounting Major

Aeronautical Science Summer School

One of the trips all of the aeronautical science students look forward to takes place during our A&P summer courses.  We took off for Dallas to get a tour of two great aviation facilities.
 
The first stop was to Air Salvage of Dallas and a chance to meet Alfred J. Louque III, better known as Lucky. He and his facilities are one of the aviation leaders in accident investigation.  After some words of wisdom from Lucky we were able to look around in the aircraft parts yard and see how the daily operations take place.

After the tour of Air Salvage of Dallas we stopped for a bite to eat and then we were on our way to Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth.  Of all our field trips at LETU, this one is one of the most anticipated.  We got the chance to have a guided tour of the manufacturing facilities of the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.  Our tour guide was an LETU alumnus that has worked for the company for over 25 years.  He took us to a home theater type meeting room where we watched some videos about Lockheed Martin and then lead us in a very informative Q&A segment. After that we all loaded up on several eight passenger golf carts and the tour guide drove from the start of the making of the F-35 to the final assembly that this facility does.  Another cool thing is the factory airport used for aircraft testing. While we were there we were able to see several F-16 doing air-work around the area.  After leaving Lockheed Martin we rode back home and so ended our trip to Dallas.

A&P summer school can be very busy and stressful so this was a great way to relieve some stress and have fun during the summer a LETU.

- Thomas Reese
Aeronautical Science Flight Science

Texas Rangers Game

 

Most people would think that staying in Longview for the summer would be absolutely boring. Well, that is not completely true. Summer housing staff does their best to plan events for the students who are staying on campus so that they are not always bored out of their minds. This past weekend, we went to a Texas Rangers baseball game verses the Oakland A’s. It was a blast! I found that the game was much more enjoyable than watching baseball on TV. Singing the chants, doing the wave, and watching all the fans dive to catch a homerun ball all added to this exciting experience. I have gained a new appreciation for baseball!
 
- Gina Gaccetta
Education Major

LETU students go to Alaska!

This year my summer break started off in Alaska!  I went with 8 other students on a missions trip to work in schools out in the boonies of Alaska.  We brought the teachers active learning games and strategies, and PE games.  The trip was lead by Dr. Jacobs (the Dean of the School of Education) and his wife Karen (a business professor) and with the help of SEND International (a missions organization that works to place Christian teachers in Alaskan schools).  I knew that this trip would be an amazing experience when I decided to go, but I wasn't quite prepared for how much we would get to do.  We definitely kept busy.  We worked in schools for about half the time, and went sightseeing the other half of the time.  We were also apart of building relationships between LETU, SEND, and the schools in Alaska.  
 

    
The schools in Alaska are unlike any schools I've ever been in.  The first school I went to, Kenny Lake, was a K-12 school with less than 200 students, and probably my dream school to work in.  The elementary grades have one teacher for two grades.  The principal and teachers were genuinely happy to have us and openly invited us into their classrooms.  The students there were also very friendly.  The school was like a giant family!  What surprised me the most was when I asked a second grader if he liked school, he answered “YES!” and told me his favorite subject was math.  Most kids I ask tell me there favorite subject is lunch or recess; they don't really like school.  The teachers in this school are more focused on having a relationship with their students.  The academic performance they want comes as a result of the relationship.  I might not end up being a teacher in Alaska, but because of this trip, I have better come to understand what kind of teacher I want to be, what I want to focus on in my classroom, and some really good teaching strategies.   
 

We were also able to meet with Barry and Ruth Remple (the director of SEND and his wife).  They helped this trip come together a lot!  SEND is a really cool organization that works to place Christian teachers in the unreached villages of Alaska.  He shared with us some cool stories as well as honest beliefs about what it took to be a missionary in Alaska.  Definitely something I will not forget.  

  
As for as sightseeing, we saw some amazing things!  The mountains and trees were beautiful!  I still can't get over some of the great views I saw.  We also found lots of dead things. :)  And I can't forget all the moose we saw!  One day we hiked up part of a mountain and slid down in the snow.  Another day we were able to go on a glacier cruise and get really close to a glacier by going through a field of ice.  We even heard and saw some ice fall off the glacier into the water!  It was also a whole lot of fun to see the Dean of Education goofing off and even picking up a moose carcass!  

I am so glad I was able to be a part of this trip!  It was a great beginning to my summer!

-Elaine Solano
Elementary Education Major

Graduation 2009

The experience of graduating from LeTourneau University was very unique and almost surreal for me. I have been IN LOVE with LeTourneau University from the time I previewed on this campus, four years ago. My love for this place only intensified as I pursued God and what He had for me among my peers, the faculty and staff. This place is rich with the presence of God and people that love Him, and love serving Him. LeTourneau has been my family for the past 4 years, and yet, God has been faithful to move my heart to a place where I'm now ready to move on to the next part of the journey.
 
The last week of academics was a bit stressful for me, and that was mostly my fault. Seniors are given the privilege of exempting exams their final semester  if they've kept up with their studies and their GPA all the way through their time here. I didn't necessarily do that...:) so I spent my last week of school cramming and making sure I could finish strong the final semester. I was grateful at the end of Thursday morning...I had finished my undergraduate career at LeTourneau by finishing my last final of the semester, and it felt glorious!

My family traveled down from northern Michigan to be here for the ceremony and graduation party, the weekend of May 2nd. It was an emotional time as two of my worlds collided- my life 2,000 miles north, and my precious experience of life in East Texas for the past four years. I had anxieties about how all of the meshing would peacably occur, and as always, God's grace was heavy over the situation and we had a blast together. My family was very gracious in walking with me through my final days at LeTourneau, and interacting with my LU family. It was a beautiful weekend of love and fellowship. 

As for the ceremony and experience itself, I wasn't as emotional as I anticipated. Part of that was emotional self-defense no doubt, but I didn't cry that much and I was just excited to receive my diploma. This was odd for me too, because I've been and will be LeTourneau's biggest cheerleader in many ways...but because of God preparing me to move on, I was able to handle the transition without a heaviness or depression. I'm excited for the next part of the journey and what God will do with me next. I am so proud of what God has done in my graduating class, and the kind of adults he's groomed all of us to be through our time at LU. We are a class that I pray is ready to take on the world, head-on, for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray we're all seeking to live as Spirit-filled professionals in a culture that is daily seeking to ban Jesus from the workplace. LeTourneau, in a sense, is a major training ground for battle, and I feel blessedly equipped to go out and pursue the next part of my calling.

So...was graduation and all of the activities involved, fabulous? Yes, absolutely. It was exciting and weird and precious all at the same time. It was precious in looking back and thinking about all of the hard work that's been put into receiving that diploma of confirmation that "You just did this." It is a privilege and a blessing to attend college, and even  more so to graduate from it. I praise God for his good gifts in that, and in his wonderful gift of LeTourneau University.
 
That people might know Him,
- Karisa Kaye
Interdisciplinary Studies Major

Finals Week

Finals week means lots of studying, tests, and losing your mind, right?  Well, only partially.  See, the nice thing about finals week is that there isn’t any class.  This frees up a whole lot more time to do other things that you have been neglecting all semester.  Sleep, for example, is a great option (unless of course you have a dreaded 7:30 final.  Everybody cries about that, but I’m like, hello, I’m aeronautical science, I have 7am class anyway!  Deal with it people).  Catching up with your floor mates who have been trapped in their rooms by engineering projects for the last 3 months is also a great option. 

The week always starts off right with Midnight Breakfast.  Free pizza late at night with friends not doing homework:  what more could a LeTourneau student ask for?  There are usually free Monster drinks too, for those who have more than one final the following day, or for those who have decided not to start studying yet.  Thankfully, I was neither of those people this year.

I bet you are wondering, where is there to have fun during finals week?  Aren’t there no open dorm hours?  Not a problem.  Hit up the library!  The great thing about finals week is the library is open 24/7 all week.  Now, the library ladies do get a bit annoyed when us kids get a little rambunctious, so we have to tone it down for a bit.  Then get bored and start distracting each other again.  It is a never ending cycle.  Someone, somewhere on campus probably has a nickname for it.

I probably watch more movies during finals week than during the semester.  Especially later in the week when I’m nearing the end of my testing.  At that point, my mind begins the great war of studying early vs. studying late.  One side of my brain says that studying now (like 10pm) will be good for me, I’ll feel better prepared for the test, and I might actually get to sleep.  The other side of my brain says, who studies before midnight?  Who sleeps?  Let’s have fun instead!  Movies!!!!  Sports!!!!  Procrastination!!!!  I think the studying late side of my brain usually wins.

- Hank Gibson
Aeronautical Science - Professional Flight

   

Business Crawfish Boil

Dr. Bob Wharton ended his first academic year as the Dean for the School of Business with some heat. Carrying on a tradition he had begun at a sister school, he invited the School of Business students, faculty, and staff along with many other departments and offices on campus to take part in the first annual School of Business Crawfish Boil. Coming from Cajun roots, Dr. Wharton pulled out all the stops with traditional jambalaya, boil crawfish, Cajun potatoes, corn, and crawfish etouffee. The Crawfish Boil was a real cajun experience! Along with the food and fixin's, there was music, laughter, and a whole lot of relaxation. A side note many people do not know about Crawfish Boil is the importance of hanging out with friends and enjoying the experience of the meal. It is a lot of work to get the meat from the crawfish, but while you are working to get the food you converse with those around you. The Crawfish Boil was a social activity that happened just in time. With finals around the corner and seniors trying on their caps and gowns, it couldn't have happened at a more opportune time. The fellowship among faculty and students (both new and old) truly captured the essence of the season and offered a time of togetherness at the end of many students' road at LETU. One of the best parts of being a student at LETU is the ability to create lasting friendships and memories with professors while knowing that they not only care about our grades, but also our lives. Along with the enjoyable meal, students and faculty could participate in a rousing game of sand volleyball , making it one of the best ways to end the semester and take a break before final exams began!

- Polly Mae Benton
Christian Ministry, B.A. Youth Ministry Concentration

Car Bash!

Finals stressing you out?  Feel like you need to blow off some steam?  Ever felt the urge to rip out guts and bash the brains out of something?

If you answered yes to question 3, seek help immediately.

Otherwise, the men of LeTourneau’s Automotive Society have a solution for you.  They know that they end of the year can be stressful, and that preparing for finals can cause a buildup of tension that needs an outlet.  To combat this, they put on their annual Car Bash fundraiser—allowing students the chance to channel their aggression and rage (if not into something constructive) into a satisfying outlet.  They provide the car, sledgehammers, crowbars, etc.  You pay just $2 dollars to beat the snot out of the car by in whatever manner you choose. 

Stress issues resolved. 
Car destroyed. 
Fundraiser accomplished.

Its not only a good time, and a perfectly allowable opportunity for destruction, but its for a good cause.  Auto Society is raising money to build up a Toyota Land Cruiser to send to Nigeria with a young missionary family.  What goes around comes around—the proceeds from destroying one car will go to building another.

So, if you love supporting missions, are feeling the pressure, or just wanna show off your muscles for the ladies….check out Car Bash before finals week.

-Kalyn Amstutz
International Business Major

Intersociety Rope Pull!

When most people hear about the age-old society tradition of Rope Pull they recall images of childhood days playing tug-of-war with their friends and whatever ropes, belts, or twine they could find.  But in your first few moments at Rope Pull, you soon realize the two are nothing alike.  The intensity, tradition, and heart invested in this rivalry between Kappa Zeta Chi, Lambda Alpha Sigma, and Alpha Omega creates an atmosphere of competition guaranteed to bring chills right down to the bone of any spectator.  Since the very beginning of society life at LeTourneau University, the men of these three societies begin preparation months ahead of time so that when they meet at the muddy little duck pond they can settle their differences with a rope that could bring them either the coveted title of “Rope Pull Champions” or muddy socks and soaking wet jerseys.

Often times a sort of mild preview can be seen late at night in the fields around campus as house members practice pulling against themselves, trees, or vehicles as they refine the technique and toughness necessary to stay dry.  Though some more serious than others, the heart, enthusiasm, and dedication required to win makes the amount of time in practice no guarantee of victory.  Nevertheless, these men tirelessly apply themselves to severe training methods and their unique techniques.

The morning after Hootenanny every year, the defending titlists arrive half an hour before the 10:00 start to humbly execute their traditional responsibility of soaking the rope.  As the societies arrive and mill about in anticipation, a growing air of friendly competition surrounds the competitors and spectators alike.  No one can keep themselves spectator or bystander for long.  The first two pulls always pass quickly as the substantially smaller LAS, in their getup of swimsuits, floaties, and flip-flops, taunts the larger houses before practically running into the pond in effort to keep pace with the rope they cling to.  The main event, however, is anything but short.  After KZX performs their legendary “pig suey,” both houses respond to the call of “on the rope!” by lifting their side of the 2-inch 200-foot massive anchor line and sounding off their positions.  Then the rope is pulled tight and the Rope Pull Official (Corey Ross) shouts “Tension….BEGIN!”  Come and check it out for yourself next year…trust me it will be exhilarating!

This year after a grueling 22 minutes and 30 seconds KZX wound up on top pulling AO into the pond.

- James Christophersen and Collin Spain
  Psychology Major             Industrial Management Major

 

Rube Goldberg

Def: Rube Goldberg – n. a comically involved, complicated invention, laboriously contrived to perform a simple operation – Webster’s New World Dictionary

Consider the game “Mouse Trap” for instance. Mouse trap is the perfect example of a Rube Goldberg device. A Player turns the crank (A) which rotates gears (B) causing lever (C) to move and push stop sign against shoe (D). Shoe tips bucket holding metal ball (E) Ball rolls down rickety stairs (F) and into rain pipe (G) which leads it to hit helping hand rod (H). This causes bowling ball (1) to fall from top of helping hand rod through thing-a-ma-jig (J) and bathtub (K), to land on diving board (L). Weight of bowling ball catapults diver (M) through the air and right into wash tub (N), causing cage (O) to fall from top of post (P) and trap unsuspecting mouse. Got it??? Rube Goldberg is an extremely complicated process to achieve a very menial task.
 
Every year as part of a class here at LeTourneau, students are challenged to create their own Rube Goldberg devices. Every year the technology behind the projects becomes more and more creative. This year was no exception to the rule.  IMO (“In my opinion” for the non-gamers out there) the craziest section of any of the devices had a tennis ball serving machine hitting a weighted down cardboard box inside of a radio flyer. Every tennis ball that hit the box moved the wagon a few inches closer to the proximity sensor about 6 feet away. Once the proximity sensor was tripped, a signal was sent to another building to a robot on the first floor of a building (built with LEGOs of course) that robot made it to the second floor (via elevator) just to deliver the signal to another sensor that sent it back to the room we were in so the next part of the project could start.
 
This year KLTV (our local ABC station), KYTX (our local CBS station), and the Longview News Journal came out to cover the event and they ran it during prime time news. I know what you are thinking “Longview Primetime?!?!? That’s Amazing…” I agree. It is Amazing. To see what KLTV, and KYTX aired check out the video below. It has some interviews and it also gives you a small peek into some of the cool projects that were built this year for Rube Goldberg.

Sorry these are links but their embedding links don’t actually work. Lame!
KLTV Video Link
Longview New Journal Video Link

-Carl Arnold
Assistant Director of Admissions
Engineering Admissions Counselor
All Around Geek and Entry Level Nerd (Hey, I’m working on it)